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"The so-called “International Coalition” led by the US, which was created three years ago to allegedly fight terrorists groups such as ISIL, has killed much more innocent Syrians, mostly women and children, than terrorists and has destroyed vital infrastructure that the Syrians have worked for years to build. It has also used phosphorus bombs and other internationally-prohibited weapons before the eyes of the whole world. We cannot understand the silence of the international community in the face of these crimes. The international community has not condemned or sought to stop these crimes, even though the Syrian government has made a number of appeals to the Security Council to assume its main responsibility of maintaining international peace and security. The Syrian government has urged the Council to implement its own resolutions on counter-terrorism, particular resolution 2253, and prevent the Coalition from committing more crimes against the citizens of my country." (Deputy Prime Minister, Foreign and Expatriates Minister Walid al-Moallem)

Mimi al-Haram (aka "the Syrian Girl Partisan'), an Australian resident of Syrian nationality, predicted, on her YouTube channel in 2012, the chemical weapons attack of August 2013, staged by anti-government 'rebels' and blamed on the Syrian government, in order to justify an invasion.

Update (4/9/17): Syrian Girl video has also been published on Russia Insider as SYRIANGIRL: Clues Suggest US or Israeli Attack on Syria Could Happen Soon (30/8/17). The full transcript, which includes a list of Mimi al-Laham's (also known as Maram Susli?) main points frome her video, is included as Appendix 4 below. Just possibly, the resolve of Syria and its Russian, Iranian and Hezbollah allies has dissuaded Israel and the United States from launching the attack of which the Syrian Girl warned in the embedded video.

Interview with Vladimr Putin by NBC News propagandist Megyn Kelly, text published on the website of the President of Russia, June 5, 2017 - https://www.newcoldwar.org/valdimir-putins-televised-interview-on-nbc-june-5-2017/, and a link to Excerpts from transcript of Megyn Kelley interviewing President Putin, et al., St Petersburg International Economic Forum plenary meeting, June 2, 2017 - https://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/54667. (If you cannot reach the Kremlin site, try dropping the s in https. We have put the 's' in because of inflexible Firefox padlock tag rules.)

A report provided by the US Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs contains lists of weapons provided by the United States to Iraq, many of which - including aircraft - would later be seized by ISIS and probably later deployed in Iraq and Syria. These included an horrendous US-manufactured arsenal of chemical and biological weapons: including anthrax, botulinium, and E.Coli as well as human and bacterial DNA. Grotesquely, the United States, which had provided these weapons, has later accused the Syrian Government of using chemical weapons, and Trump has used this as an excuse to invade Syria.

I have transcribed the text from an abbreviated version of President Bashar al-Assad's interview in the embedded video, which was released on 13 April 2017. The guts of President Bashar al-Assad's response to world allegations that Syria's national army attacked civilians with chemical weapons is that the Syrian Arab Army was not in the area at 6-6.30 am when Al-Quaeda alleges a chemical weapons attack took place, they were there around 11.30-12.00hrs. The area had no strategic value for them. Syria got rid of its chemical weapons arsenal in 2013, under international supervision, so what was the army supposed to have used? At the time of the alleged attack, the Syrian Army had the terrorists [Al-Quaeda/ISIS] on the run so why would they [invite punishment from the world community] in carrying out a senseless act with chemical weapons of no strategic importance, if they actually had chemical weapons, which they deny? The film of the alleged incident shows rescuers without any masks or other safety equipment supposedly dealing with people affected by toxic gas that is fatal on contact. Trump's U-turn on foreign intervention policy and US action on the fabricated incident shows that the president has no real power and that the United States is run by the Deep State. Text of statements are under the video inside this article. This transcription is provided because President Assad's English in the abbreviated version is not always completely clear. The entire interview, with English subtitles, is to be found at the bottom of my transcript of the shorter version. It is well worth listening to!

MIT Professor Theodor Postol suggests two inquiries into alleged 'verified evidence' of chemical attack by Assad in Syria: One international probably under the UN, where the Russians and Americans can provide their input and a second American investigation to find out how such a false report could be generated at the highest levels of the US government. "This is very serious. This confrontation with Russia has some potential to escalate and, if it's escalating over false intelligence claims, that is very serious."

Days of incessant propaganda from the ABC, SBS and all other mainstream media toeing the Trump/US Establishment line on chemical weapons in Syria, without any overt logical basis, prompted the author to make a complaint. David Macilwain was in Syria in 2010, corresponds internationally with diverse people concerned about Syria's rights, and has visited Russia twice in the past three years, in a quest to discuss and share views on current events and to build up contacts who might be interviewed by the Australian press rather than the narrow sample usually referred to.

As we watch the mainstream newsmedia step up their promotion of western government narrative in a kangaroo court on President Assad, more and more high profile people are coming out saying how implausible the mainstream line is. Those people deserve our support because the mainstream newsmedia and government are going after them precisely in order to deprive the rest of us of informed debate. One example in Australia is how the Sydney Morning Herald has published an article citing infotainment and advertising placement specialists, Associated Press, and PolitiFact, a corporate press network propaganda outfit, as authorities condemning Professor Tim Anderson's work as 'conspiracy theory', implying the same for some associated academics. Tim Anderson is in a unique position to judge conspiracy, having been convicted then freed after a conspiracy portrayed him as guilty in 1990 over the 1978 Hilton Hotel bombing in Sydney. It is thought that the Australian Government organised the Hilton Bombing as a false flag. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sydney_Hilton_Hotel_bombing The failure of the Sydney Morning Herald article fails to analyse Professor Anderson's arguments, preferring simply to condemn him via a press organisation and a propaganda outfit, is a hallmark of 'Fake News' and propaganda. The Sydney Morning Herald's inclusion of an old overturned conviction for Tim Anderson without further explanation seems gratuitous if not designed to damage the standing of his opinion. On the 17th and 18th of April, the Centre for Counter Hegemonic Studies will be holding a two day conference at Sydney University on the Syrian conflict: http://counter-hegemonic-studies.net/syria-conf-program/. This event is endorsed by Sydney University's Political Economy Society. We at candobetter.net do not necessarily endorse everything that comes out of universities, because these have now become strongly commercialised and mainstream-politicised, but we do endorse this conference because Tim Anderson's book, The Dirty War on Syria comes from long study, many documented visits to Syria and interactions with the Syrian community in Australia, and uses logical and documented arguments, unlike the Sydney Morning Herald or the Australian Government. We are also impressed by Sydney University's support for academic free speech.

How shallow the ABC’s Mediawatch (‘Media war over Syria’ [11 April 2017]) treats such an important issue, the 6 year long war against Syria. They have cobbled together a few tweets so as to defend the war story of the US and Australian Governments, and the state and corporate media (ABC, BBC and UK Guardian) which faithfully reflect that line.

Lee Ann McAdoo and Owen Shroyer do a fantastic in depth analysis of the history and current stories on chemical weapon use in Syria. The best I have seen. And they take Trump to task. And finger McCain. Alex Jones, who produces Infowars, has been an ardent Trump supporter and some people feared he might get his journalists to pull their punches on Trump if Trump stepped out of line, but this is disproven here.

It is weird that the mainstream press and the US-NATO war machine continue to put out the same stories as if they were spambots. You would think that real human beings could come up with something more convincing. It is known, however, that people tend to believe a message they often hear repeated, to the detriment of their own eyes and reason, so perhaps this is the intentional modus-operandi of the US-NATO-military industrial media complex. The only way to combat the oft-repeated lie is to repeatedly question it, which we are doing here. Once again the US-NATO deep state war-machine has tried to use the UN like Lucy's football for Charlie Brown, to give authority to accusations against the Syrian government which it actually has no reliable basis for. The consequences could be truly awful - but what do spambots care about World War 3?

"We deny completely the use of any chemical or toxic material in Khan Sheikhoun town today and the army has not used nor will use in any place or time, neither in past or in future," the Syrian army has said in a statement. The Syrian Air Force has destroyed a warehouse in Idlib province where chemical weapons were being produced and stockpiled before being shipped to Iraq, Russia’s Defense Ministry spokesman said. The strike, which was launched midday Tuesday, targeted a major rebel ammunition depot east of the town of Khan Sheikhoun, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Major-General Igor Konashenkov said in a statement. The warehouse was used to both produce and store shells containing toxic gas, Konashenkov said. The shells were delivered to Iraq and repeatedly used there, he added, pointing out that both Iraq and international organizations have confirmed the use of such weapons by militants. [First published by RT at https://www.rt.com/news/383522-syria-idlib-warehouse-strike-chemical/]

Brilliant Iranian interviewer Kaveh Taghvai's questions on the subject are inspired in this debate - more of a discussion - between J. Michael Springmann, a former US diplomat, and Michael Lane, the founder of American Institute for Foreign Policy, both from Washington. The two guests and the interviewer all have an unusually deep grasp of the drivers of turmoil in the region and of the foreign players involved. We get some very interesting new perspectives and interpretations of the latest moves around Syria. For instance, Turkey's position is often hard to fathom. We know it wants to take land from the north of Syria, whilst pretending to be maintaining safe zones. We know it wants to drive the Kurds back, but the usefulness of the refugee camps for Turkey as a military buffer may not have occurred to everyone.

The absurdity of Australian news reporting on Syria would be funny if it were not for the disastrous consequences of such reporting for the people of Syria. I happened to see the end of a report from Matt Brown on 7.30 Report on the subject of chemical weapons in Syria. If it depresses me, think how the Syrians feel about our mindless repetition of war-crimes propaganda against Syria's army when that army is the only thing protecting most Syrians from foreign-backed terrorists.

Syria’s ambassador to the United Nations has dismissed as flawed the findings of a UN-mandated investigation blaming Syrian forces for the use of chemical weapons, saying the report is based on “false testimonies.” Amazingly, the conclusions of the report “lack any physical evidence, whether by samples or attested medical reports that chlorine was used.”

Damascus, SANA – President Bashar al-Assad described in an interview with the Swedish Expressen Newspaper the outcomes of Moscow talks as a breakthrough and said that the UN envoy’s Aleppo plan, which is supported by the government, was spoiled by external intervention, renewing his warning that the terrorism imported to Syria will "bite" its backers whenever it has the chance. He also called on Sweden to influence the EU to lift the economic sanctions imposed on the Syrian people. President Assad also answers (yet again) re-posed questions about chemical weapons and talks about contradictions in US policy and treatment of terrorism since 9-11. The following is part of the full text of the interview, which was first published by Al-Masdar News on April 17, 2015. (The 22:59 minute video and part 1 and part 2 of the full transcript of the original interview 1 can be found in the Swedish Expressen magazine.)

"We live in a time when compassionate rhetoric is used as a weapon of state-corporate control. The rhetoric focuses on ethical concerns such as racial, gender and same-sex equality, but is disconnected from any kind of coherent ethical worldview. Corporate commentators are thereby freed to laud these moral principles, even as they ignore high crimes of state-corporate power." (Media Lens editor David Edwards)

"A classic case study of the conduct of US foreign policy as it relates to international law." Most Australians seem to get their opinions on world events from some well-known ABC, Murdoch and Fairfax commentators, and some newer ones sourced from corporate 'think tanks' like the Lowy Institute, and some questionably alternative sources like the Green Left Weekly, who all basically run the same line. If that is how you get your news, then you won't have any idea of what happened to Libya in 2011. To have any understanding of events in the Middle East, it is necessary to read much more widely. I came across this book recently and snapped it up because it was by an international US law professor who personally represented Mohamar Qadaffi in Libya's defense against the Lockerbie airplane bombing accusations and documented successive NATO attempts to draw Libya into war. Written very clearly, with a proper thesis, the book proved to be a fascinating and moving document of one man's attempt to represent his people honestly and truly and to synthesise a way forward for Muslims, men and women together, as a national participant in global affairs.

Despite the clear and convincing evidence that a 2013 Sarin attack in Syria was staged and effected by foreign intelligence agencies working with terrorist groups, to be used as a pretext for “humanitarian intervention”, this fabrication and other false allegations against the Syrian government are now being dusted off again, along with a suitable replacement “government in waiting”. But something happened in the meantime — Syria had a democratic presidential election with three candidates, in which even refugee expatriates went out of their way to vote - and Bashar Al Assad was returned with overwhelming approval. Any country ignoring the legality of the Assad Government in Syria surely does so at peril of later accusations of war-crimes.

At 7.29PM on Saturday 13 September, the Melbourne Age newspaper published the story Julie Bishop condemns Syria over use of toxic weapons. A search of the Internet revealed, the OPCW media release of 10 Sep in which the claim was originally made. 10 September 2014 is only 2 days after Syria's cache of chemical weapons was destroyed under a United Nations monitored program (see Appendix 2). That media release failed to show where, on the OPCW site, the report, upon which it was supposedly based, was located. Other stories, based on that media release, include:

August 21st 2013 may go down as the day of 'the Schism' - between the narrative of 'Western' culture as it promotes itself, and the reality for those across the Gulf. Ironically this is both a physical gulf, known both as 'The Persian gulf' by the countries aligned with 'Persia', and as 'The Arabian gulf' by the Arab gulf nations bordering it on the south, and a psychological and cultural gulf.

Continuing the ABC's misreporting of the Syrian conflict, ABC Newsradio's Middle East reporter, Matt Brown described in lurid tones the inspection and destruction of Syria's chemical weapons stock pile. He described Syria's chemical weapons as the most deadly weapons known to man. Matt Brown appeared ignorant of the fact that across the border in Israel. lies a massive arsenal of chemical, biological and nuclear weapons. Given that and that Syria, has lost 100,000 lives since March 2011, as a result of a bloody insurgency by terrorists supported by Israel and its Western allies, and has suffered past aggression from Israel in 1956, 1967 and has witnessed repeated Israeli aggression against neighbouring Lebanon from the 1980's, Syria's possession of a means to deter its bullying expansionist neighbour from launching an outright invasion is hardly unreasonable.

In March 2011 'roving' Australian Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd, then in the Middle East called for the establishment of aso-called "no-fly zone" over Libya. This helped prepare the groundwork for NATO's subsequent invasion of Libya. The Australian government, whose delegate to the United Nations currently holds the office of President of the United Nations' Security Council, has supported United States as it has waged a proxy terrorist war against Syria that has already cost 100,000 deaths in two and a half years. The hostility towards Syria by the previous 'Labor' Government, which was voted out of office on 7 September, is apparently to be continued by the new Liberal/National Coalition Government according to the new Foreign Minister, Senator Julie Bishop.

The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, whose pronouncements on Syria have featured on candobetter.net recently, has authored today's editorial opinion for the New York Times, calling on the US not to invade Syria. Full text reproduced here.

Guest column by the distinguished commentator and radio host Stephen Lendman:

Syria has agreed to the Russian proposal to give up its chemical weapons, but the war criminal and totally isolated obama regime, the scum of the earth, says it will attack Syria regardless.

How will the world respond to the Amerikan Third Reich, the worst threat to truth, justice, peace, and humanity that the world has ever experienced? Will the world submit to rule by an outlaw state whose corrupt government represents no one but the Israel Lobby?

There's an excellent article by the ever-reliable McClatchy News, analysing the various 'inconsistencies and hinges' in the Obama administration's 'red line' case against Syria. In the light of the latest allegations by French intelligence services, it raises several unanswered and often unasked questions:

War criminals and serial liars, President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry, and their Australian accomplices, Prime Minster Kevin Rudd and Foreign Minister Bob Carr

This coming Saturday 7 September, most Australians will be forced to make the unpalatable choice between, on the one hand, the Opposition Liberal Party and the ruling Labor Party. The Liberal Party is resolved to destroy 7,000 public service jobs, remove the right of trade unions to enter workplaces and give the Green light to destructive and horrifically expensive projects such as the East-West Link and the Phillip Island industrialisation project. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, as well as promoting rampant population growth and section 457 visas has, on the international stage, facilitated military aggression against Libya in 2011 and has done his utmost to repeat the exercise with Syria. Fortunately for Syria and the rest of the world, President Obama's war plans against Syria have been defeated by international and domestic opposition as described in the included article of 30 Aug 2013 by Paul Craig Roberts. It is vital, if peace and democracy are to survive that Kevin Rudd, Bob Carr and Opposition Leader Tony Abbott be held to account for their support for the U.S. Government's criminal actions.

Whilst the UK Parliament has acted to prevent that country's armed forces from participating in the planned act of war against Syria, the United States is apparently still prepared to take action "on its own" in the face of the evidence and ovewhelming domestic and international opposition.

UK Labor Opposition leader Ed Millibrand will move an amendment to the govenment motion in support of the war against Syria calling for a delay in attacking Syria until after the UN weapons' inspectors' report is delivered. If the amendment is defeated, he will call on MPs to vote agaist the motion for war.